Chris Ochs and Becky Lapins transplant tomatoes and broccoli at Gold Krest Farm, while Kevin Webb mans the tractor, on Monday June 11, 2012 in East Greenbush, NY. The farm, devastated by last summer's flooding from Irene, is back in production and will return to the CDPHP farmers market for the first time this Thursday. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union) less

Chris Ochs and Becky Lapins transplant tomatoes and broccoli at Gold Krest Farm, while Kevin Webb mans the tractor, on Monday June 11, 2012 in East Greenbush, NY. The farm, devastated by last summer's ... more

Photo: Philip Kamrass

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Megan Snyder waters roses at the Gold Krest farmstand on Monday June 11, 2012 in East Greenbush, NY. The farm, devastated by last summer's flooding from Irene, is back in production and will return to the CDPHP farmers market for the first time this Thursday. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union) less

Megan Snyder waters roses at the Gold Krest farmstand on Monday June 11, 2012 in East Greenbush, NY. The farm, devastated by last summer's flooding from Irene, is back in production and will return to the ... more

Photo: Philip Kamrass

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Reclaiming a field of greens

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EAST GREENBUSH — The Webb family never had a chance.

One day, their fields in lowlands near the Hudson River were full of crops, not quite ready to harvest.

The next, the fields were under water.

The crops were lost, as was much of the farm equipment, in last August's floods spawned by Tropical Storm Irene.

But the family cleared fields of debris and replanted them, and on Thursday, Gold Krest Farm will return to two area farmers markets — the CDPHP market in Albany and the North Greenbush market — for the first time since the floods.

"We'll have strawberries, zucchini, summer squash and some tomatoes from the greenhouse," said Chris Webb. His farmstand at 3447 River Road, Route 9J, is also open and operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Tropical Storm Irene hit farmers throughout eastern New York at the worst possible time, just before they were ready to harvest many of their crops.

Irene caused an estimated $8 billion in economic losses along the Eastern Seaboard, with $5.3 billion of that covered by insurance, according to insurer Swiss Re, making it the world's sixth-costliest catastrophe in 2011. It ranked just below the Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala., tornadoes. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan topped the list with economic losses of $210 billion.

Webb, like many farmers, had coverage on just a small portion of his losses, collecting about 8 cents per dollar of crops lost.

A small grant from Rensselaer County also helped to make up some of the difference, but his losses still total about $363,000, he said.

The first stop Thursday for Gold Krest Farm is the weekly CDPHP Farmers Market, now in its fifth year, at 500 Patroon Creek Blvd. in Albany.

The market operates from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Thursday, and usually has more than a dozen vendors.

On Saturday, Gold Krest Farm plans to return to the Menands Farmers Market.

At the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market, "pretty much all the farmers are back to full production," said Monica Kurzejeski, market manager. "The weather was really nice to us in the spring. That was nature's way of taking care of the sting" from Irene.

The unusually warm March weather gave many crops an early start, she said, with apricots, raspberries and strawberries available earlier than usual.

Farmers had plenty of work to get to this stage, however.

As the floodwaters drained last year from Gold Krest's fields, Webb and his family, neighbors and friends cleared debris to prepare the fields for replanting.

He said he was able to afford to plant only about half the nearly 400 acres he normally farms, stretching along Route 9J from Rensselaer, through East Greenbush, to Schodack.